Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) Shares Acquired by Vaughan David Investments LLC IL

Vaughan David Investments LLC IL grew its stake in Verizon Communications Inc. (NYSE:VZ) by 2.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 960,940 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock after purchasing an additional 23,405 shares during the quarter. Vaughan David Investments LLC IL’s holdings in Verizon Communications were worth $38,428,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the stock. AMF Tjanstepension AB lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 58.0% in the third quarter. AMF Tjanstepension AB now owns 1,756,452 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $78,975,000 after buying an additional 644,761 shares in the last quarter. Swedbank AB lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 0.8% in the third quarter. Swedbank AB now owns 5,174,541 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $232,389,000 after buying an additional 39,403 shares in the last quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 13.3% in the third quarter. GHP Investment Advisors Inc. now owns 9,166 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $412,000 after buying an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 1,093.0% in the third quarter. Ridgepath Capital Management LLC now owns 135,464 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $6,084,000 after buying an additional 124,109 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Insight Folios Inc lifted its stake in shares of Verizon Communications by 6.3% in the third quarter. Insight Folios Inc now owns 184,961 shares of the cell phone carrier’s stock worth $8,307,000 after buying an additional 11,027 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.06% of the company’s stock.

Verizon Communications Price Performance

Verizon Communications stock opened at $43.31 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 1.21, a quick ratio of 0.59 and a current ratio of 0.63. The company has a market capitalization of $182.31 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 10.46, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.45 and a beta of 0.45. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $39.95 and its 200-day simple moving average is $41.65. Verizon Communications Inc. has a 1 year low of $37.58 and a 1 year high of $45.36.

Verizon Communications (NYSE:VZ) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Friday, January 24th. The cell phone carrier reported $1.10 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.11 by ($0.01). Verizon Communications had a net margin of 12.99% and a return on equity of 19.80%. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $1.08 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Verizon Communications Inc. will post 4.69 earnings per share for the current year.

Verizon Communications Cuts Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Monday, February 3rd. Investors of record on Friday, January 10th were issued a $0.6775 dividend. This represents a $2.71 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 6.26%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, January 10th. Verizon Communications’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.46%.

Insider Activity at Verizon Communications

In other Verizon Communications news, CEO Kyle Malady sold 11,085 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $40.88, for a total transaction of $453,154.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 14,590 shares in the company, valued at $596,439.20. The trade was a 43.17 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 39,085 shares of company stock worth $1,582,995. Corporate insiders own 0.02% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

VZ has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank of Canada decreased their price target on shares of Verizon Communications from $46.00 to $42.00 in a research note on Friday, January 24th. Tigress Financial reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $55.00 target price on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Thursday, January 30th. DZ Bank raised shares of Verizon Communications from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $40.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Sanford C. Bernstein assumed coverage on shares of Verizon Communications in a research note on Tuesday, December 10th. They set a “market perform” rating and a $48.00 target price on the stock. Finally, UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Verizon Communications from $44.00 to $45.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 20th. Ten analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, eight have issued a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $46.08.

About Verizon Communications

Verizon Communications Inc, through its subsidiaries, engages in the provision of communications, technology, information, and entertainment products and services to consumers, businesses, and governmental entities worldwide. It operates in two segments, Verizon Consumer Group (Consumer) and Verizon Business Group (Business).